November 6, 2003

Test Spin: The Thorns

The Thorns could be thought of as a singer-songwriter super group, combining the recognized talents of Mathew Sweet, Shaun Mullins, and Pete Droge.

The effort, however, falls short of expectations.

With their self-titled release, the roots rockers bring a disappointingly redundant sound that wreaks of down home comfort to the point that it gets uncomfortable. The entire album is acoustically driven with sleepy vocals that are accompanied by soft snare drums and the occasional piano. There are, however, a few departures from the mundane acoustics. “Thorns,” an opus of droning guitars, an organ, and a pounding bass beat is more reminiscent of ’80s glam rock than roots rock. The same goes for “Dragonfly,” which has a similar feel to that of mellowed out Led Zeppelin songs such as “Tangerine.” Yet, more often than not, The Thorns sound like a group of lovelorn teenagers trying to imitate Tom Petty and James Taylor, without the psychedelia of the former and the introspection of the latter.

This album seems intent on conjuring up a certain feeling. The speakers project comfort of the nostalgic variety on every track, evoking the warm feeling of staring off into an autumn sunset. Although the mood The Thorns manage to lull us into is pleasing, in the end it is uninspiring. Nothing here stands out as memorable or distinctive. It is a listening experience that fails to live outside of the stereo, and while it plays, The Thorns encloses us in a lukewarm bubble of comfort that will either satisfy or suffocate.

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Three weeks ago, the Cornell men’s polo team (4-0) cruised to a 20-6 victory against Connecticut in Ithaca. However, as the Red travels to take on the Huskies in a rematch at 8:15 tonight, head coach David Eldredge ’81 expects a much closer game. “We blew them out at home,” said Eldredge, “but they were still experimenting with the starting lineup then. I expect a lot tougher game. It should be close and they could knock us off.” In their first meeting against Connecticut, the surprising veteran-like play of inexperienced junior Nick Grew helped the Red grab an early lead and build it throughout the game. Unable to find the right mix of players on the field, the Huskies never found a solution to the Cornell attack, as the Red outscored them in every single chukker. Acknowledging that Connecticut has the talent to keep up with Cornell, Eldredge stressed that the key to the game for the Red will be to keep their focus. More specifically, Cornell must avoid getting bogged down in the slow pace of play consistent with the Huskies’ ball-control offense. “We need to keep spread out,” explained Eldredge about Cornell’s more open and running offensive attack. “We can’t get caught up playing their game.” Further, the Red must also adhere to the overall strategy it has been focusing on in practice. The team has been working on improving Grew’s defensive positioning to allow senior standouts Jeff Markle and Senter Johnson to be more aggressive on offense. Coming into the game against Connecticut, the men will definitely have momentum on their side, coming off a 26-6 trouncing of Purdue last weekend. Johnson dominated play while outscoring Purdue by nine goals all by himself. Cornell’s dominating performance also allowed Eldredge to give his first substitute, freshman Stan Feldman, some valuable playing time at the top level. Feldman played well in the second half, tallying two goals in his limited amount of playing time. “He played a couple of really good chukkers,” commented Eldredge about Feldman’s play. “He’s improving by the week and, in the long run, will be an important factor for us.” Meanwhile, riding high after an impressive 26-13 victory last Sunday at Connecticut, the Cornell women’s polo team (3-1) will hit the road again, as it takes on Skidmore in Saratoga Springs tonight at 8:15. An inexperienced team, the Thouroughbreds should not be too difficult for Cornell to handle. “They’re pretty weak and young,” said Eldredge about the opponents. “They’re not going to put up much of a fight.” In fact, Eldredge feels confident enough about this game to rest starting lineup mainstay junior Molly Buck. Instead, junior Lindsay Sheer, one of the girls competing for the team’s first alternate spot, will start the game for Cornell. The biggest challenge for the Red should be adjusting to Skidmore’s small arena, which is only two-thirds the size of Oxley Equestrian Center. “It should make the game a little bit more of a challenge,” described Eldredge about the Thouroughbreds home field advantage. “But we’ll get on it pretty easy.” Last week against Connecticut, the Red extended a 10-6 halftime lead, as the offense exploded in the third chukker. Junior Marisa Bianchi scored eight of Cornell’s 10 goals in that chukker on her way to a team-high 14 goals. That road victory against the Huskies reveals much about how much Cornell has already improved early in the season. In the first meeting between these two teams, the Red had as much as it could handle while earning a 13-7 victory in a hard fought game. Last week, however, the Red took control from the start and never looked back. “The finishing is the big difference between now and where we were. We didn’t finish well in the first game,” commented Eldredge about the team’s improvement. “I was quite surprised to be able to beat them like that. It shows what this team can do.” Archived article by Scott Reich

The equestrian team enters this weekend with high hopes and plans to return from the Hartwick Show with a first-place finish. “We will come out strong and focused,” said head coach Chris Mitchell. “And we want to come out on top.” This show will be the first competition in what should be a breakthrough season for the Red. With a deep team and outstanding performances in pre-season practices, Mitchell expects this year to be a very successful one for the team. This weekend the Red has strong contestants across the board. Categories range from walk-trot, or beginner, to open, or advanced, with many intermediate levels in between. Cornell has the potential to place well in several categories. Senior Jessica Enes, competing in the walk-trot and sophomore Asta Torokvei, in the Open category, will lead the way for the Red. Juniors Caitlin O’Shea and Linda Nguyen will represent the Red at the Advanced and Beginner levels of the walk-trot-canter, respectively. Although these are the riders to watch, Mitchell has confidence in the rest of the team as well. “We have never been this deep before,” Mitchell said. “The team would like to do something better this year.” Mitchell believes that the team is ready to achieve this goal. After a month of 6:00 a.m. practices, the team is looking forward to the first horse show. “We have been having outstanding practices,” Mitchell said. “The girls are very focused.” The Red will be competing against the 11 schools in its region, including Ithaca, Hartwick, Binghamton, and Cobleskill. But the school the Red has its eye on is Skidmore. “They are our arch-nemesis,” Mitchell said. “But like the girls say, they’re going down this year.” Skidmore is the defending regional champion. The Red must beat the Skidmore team in order to earn the national bid it wants. Mitchell does not doubt that the Red is up to the task. “I am very proud,” he said. “This is an excellent, excellent team.” Archived article by Olivia Dwyer